Freedom Feature: Trisha Peightal “Sweet Megan Bakery”

Connecting the celiac disease and food allergy/intolerance community together by sharing our stories to food freedom. From our beginning struggles to striving after a diagnosis, we can all relate and help each other out by sharing what we’ve learned and our unique personal journeys.

I have a sweet Freedom Feature to share with you today! Introducing Sweet Megan Bakery! A gourmet gluten-free and top 8 allergen free bakery producing some deliciously sweet treats! Pretty close to home for me here in New Jersey, they’re located in Pennsylvania. You can visit the actual bakery, find their products in select stores, or order online! They are whipping out something special with their allergy-free cookie doughs, cupcakes, cookie sandwiches, muffins, and pizza crusts! Of course, there will be a special giveaway at the end of the feature!

background: who are you?

Welcome to the world of Sweet Megan—where everyone is welcome! My name is Trisha Peightal, and I handle the operations/sales end of things for our company. We are a premium top 8 allergen free baking company specializing in cleaner, safer alternatives for treats and foods everyone already knows and loves. Founded by President/CEO Pattie Lerner just 3 years ago, our brand and business have certainly changed over time but our loyalty to protecting consumers has not. We believe in the integrity and transparency of our ingredients, as well as our products, without compromising delicious textures and taste.

tell us about Pattie’s journey with food allergies?

What happens when you start baking for a newly diagnosed Celiac and all of her non-Celiac friends want to eat it too? Sweet Megan happens. Pattie’s daughter was diagnosed at age 27 after experiencing mysterious, chronic symptoms for years. When Pattie went food shopping for her there was nothing on the market she felt was safe AND appealing—so she got to cooking and baking herself. Because she got such resoundingly good feedback, she knew she had to do something more: create a gluten and other top 8 allergen free bakery.

what are the foundations, values, and mission of your company?

Sweet Megan Baking Company came about because so many people were suffering and continue to suffer over things way out of their control. Instead of isolating people with allergies/intolerances and forcing them to eat things that not only don’t taste good but also replace gluten with artificial preservatives or ingredients that break down into sugar, we want to build an inclusive community that is safe for everyone. Our mission is to feed, to fuel, and to nourish the body and soul from the inside out.

tell us about your products and what makes them unique?

Sweet Megan offers multiple product lines—all of which are gluten free, top 8 allergen free, vegan, kosher, and made with no artificial flavoring. We make cookie dough that is safe to eat raw but can also be baked in a variety of flavors and sizes. The dough can be used as raw cookie dough in ice cream, baked into a pie crust, or rolled out and baked into shapes. Besides that, our company makes pizza crust that can be used for whatever toppings you enjoy, cupcakes, cakes, cookie dough spoonfuls, power muffins, and cookie sandwiches.

what do you hope to see in the future; for yourself, the company, and the gluten-free/food allergy community?

Our hope for the future is to destigmatize allergen free foods and cultivate a likeminded community of people who value what goes into their bodies. At Sweet Megan, though we manufacture foods and desserts that are both safe and delicious, we focus more on using our platform to let people know gluten free doesn’t have to mean it tastes bad and it doesn’t have to mean unhealthy— it can be just as good and sought after as what everyone else is already used to. Allergen free doesn’t have to mean gritty or sugary to hide other textures or ingredients. Creating an atmosphere that understands that in 2017 allergen free foods can be good, and ARE good at Sweet Megan, is our main focus, and we won’t stop until more and more people jump on board. All we can do in the meantime is sample/demo and get our products into more hands to gently show people ourselves that our products really speak for themselves. We hope to encourage those with allergies while inspiring people without.

any food allergy tips to share?

Don’t give up! Sometimes the search seems endless, not to mention limiting, but there are people working to build a community that includes you, too!

do you have a favorite recipe?

Some of our favorite recipes can be found on our website. We are always updating our recipes page and love when people share their recipes or ideas with us!

Now for the giveaway! Sweet Megan Bakery is offering 1 cookie dough jar in either the sugar cookie, brownie, or chocolate chip flavors to THREE lucky readers who enter! Just enter with the Rafflecopter below before March 16rd, 2017 (US only!) I’ll contact the winner directly at the end of the giveaway period! They are also providing ALL readers with a promo code: sunshine10, for 10% off purchases from their online shop!

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Hey friends! I’m Rebecca a healthy gluten-free & allergy-friendly food blogger, Celiac advocate, yogi, and college student! I have a strong passion for finding the beauty and happiness in life no matter what hurdles it throws at you. To me happiness is sunshine, stepping onto my yellow yoga mat, waking up at 4 am, mugs of hot tea or black coffee, and of course cooking up delicious, nutritious food!